The Serongunis

Nolamine stood there as he looked at Langa standing up full of blood on his hands and pieces of flesh, skull, and brain tissue on his face and chest. He was wearing nothing on his upper body, like his master, and only had a sword strap for his sword on his back. He looked more like a monster than a human to him as black smoke continually left him.

A dead man's body landed next to Nolamine with its only saving grace being that the man still looked like himself after being killed, unlike the others.

Nolamine looked at Analka whose shield returned back to her arm guard together with her blade. She did not look at him, but looked at her surroundings and then turned towards the hill, sprinting faster than a cheetah, like she was hunting prey.

Unlike her, Langa had his guard down and was not bordered by his surroundings. He turned and looked at the dead Black Crobal and then at Analka sprinting away and sighed.

"I lost."

He said as he returned back to his normal self. Nolamine did not know what he was on about but he could swear the kid that already looked like a man was crying.

He checked his surroundings to make sure that there were no others. He did not want another spear thrown at him while he looked at a disappointed teen.

He looked over to the woman with a crushed skull and just looked at her. Unlike Elon who was from the Ansu and killed in the parking lot, for some reason he felt no pity for her. He looked at the others and felt nothing.

It had only been only three months and now he was not vomiting and not feeling sick as he saw dead bodies.

"Huh? What?"

He said as he jumped back. Langa had been looking at him straight in his eyes like he was noticing something. His hand was on his chin like he was in deep thought.

"Seems like the monster in you is finally wanting to show itself. Now you look more like the kid who would beat me almost to death every time we fought, needing someone as strong as a hunter to take you off of me."

The words shocked him, but he did not notice how quickly he had gotten used to dead bodies either. He had unlocked his memories but he could not remember what Langa was talking about.

A person's lifeless body flew in their direction and landed by them. It was from where Analka had run to. She came back, having jumped as they did before, landed next to it, and again she was as quiet as the blissful wind.

"That's the last of them."

She said as she took another potion from her belt. This one was like the one Second had given Nolamine to drink so as to heal his inflammation from the mosquito bites. It was milky white and thicker.

When she drank it, she returned back to normal as two boys looked at her changing back to her old self, not looking away so as not to miss the transformation. Their minds were in constant battle on which Analka they liked more. But, without talking to each other, they both agreed that they were scared of Analka the Assassin.

The body she had thrown over to them was of a girl as young as them. Nolamine finally felt an emotion of sadness when he noticed this. She had been stabbed from behind, on her left, and through her heart. It was like she had been running away.

"The Serongunis."

She said as she looked at the girl.

"They are scouts and she was in training."

She said, referring to the girl.

Nolamine had a questioning look on his face and she knew she had to tell him what just happened.

"Well, I think you will be surprised when I tell you that this started way back, and your mother had a major part in how the conflict escalated."

She said.

"My mother?"

Nolamine was surprised.

"The Serongunis are a clan that occupies the Great Forest to the east of here. This is not their territory, but there is no doubt that they are here because someone told them that you are back, being the son of the woman who killed almost half of them, you would see why we are at constant war with them and at a kill at first sight bases.."

Nolamine wanted to hear more but they just had a fight and had to clear out of there before a powerful beast came to see what was going on and expected to snatch a free meal.

As they processed the Black Crobal, Nolamine saw why the ticks were so valuable. The acid that had been thrown at the man who was now only a pool of bubbling liquid of flesh and bones was incased using the tick's skin.

"They are the bane of every beast. Some beasts have blood that is acid and some that is poisonous, while some have blood that is so hot you would think it is magma running through their veins, but they suck it all. They are resilient like that and we still do not know how they could handle such extreme blood in their bodies."

Langa said as he cut out the Black Crobal's heart while Analka skinned it. They finished and left the dead bodies right there without burying them.

"The monsters shall eat them. This will make them evolve match quicker and we will get to harvest stronger monsters."

Langa said. As much as he thought it was cruel, Nolamine was still interested and impatient to know what Analka was on about when she said his mother had killed many of them in the past.

Analka started talking after they were at a significant distance away from the clearing.

"When your auntie, Mi-sun came to seek help and we were not born at the time, they say that the one who had put that curse on her was the Elder of the Serongunis. Someone equal to the Grand Witch in power in our clan."

Nolamine could not believe how all this was linked.

"It seemed that her father's business partner had offered them a significant amount of money for the task, and by so doing gained the services of the highest Black Witch around."

"Money is the root of evil, some say."

Langa said as he tried to butt in the conversation. Analka ignored him and continued.